Plans for diplomatic ties with Cuba offer hope for U.S....

1of3A tourist is photographed next to an Ernest Hemingway statue at the “Floridita” bar in Havana. Most Americans are banned from traveling to Cuba.Photo: Desmond Boylan /Associated Press

2of3Tourists take a few beers at the Hotel National, with view of Morro Castle behind them in Havana, Cuba, Wednesday, Dec. 17, 2014. After a half-century of Cold War acrimony, the United States and Cuba abruptly moved on Wednesday to restore diplomatic relations _ a historic shift that could revitalize the flow of money and people across the narrow waters that separate the two nations. The U.S. is easing restrictions on travel to Cuba, including for family visits, official government business and educational activities. But tourist travel remains banned. (AP Photo/Desmond Boylan)Photo: Desmond Boylan, STR / Associated Press

3of3Tourists ride in a classic American car on the Malecon in Havana, Cuba, Wednesday, Dec. 17, 2014. After a half-century of Cold War acrimony, the United States and Cuba abruptly moved on Wednesday to restore diplomatic relations _ a historic shift that could revitalize the flow of money and people across the narrow waters that separate the two nations. The U.S. is easing restrictions on travel to Cuba, including for family visits, official government business and educational activities. But tourist travel remains banned. (AP Photo/Desmond Boylan)Photo: Desmond Boylan, STR / Associated Press

NEW YORK — Cuba was once a haven for sun-seeking American tourists. Beautiful beaches, lively casinos and late-night dancing made it the perfect getaway, only an hour’s flight from Miami.

But the Cuban revolution led by Fidel Castro and the subsequent Cold War embargo of the communist island nation put an end to that.

President Barack Obama’s announcement Wednesday of plans to re-establish diplomatic ties with Cuba doesn’t suddenly lift the ban on U.S. tourism. But it does give hope to airlines, hotel chains and cruise companies that they soon will be able to bring U.S. tourists to the Caribbean nation. All of them have been quietly eyeing a removal of the travel ban.

“Cuba is the largest country in the Caribbean, so there’s some exciting possibilities,” said Roger Frizzell, spokesman for Carnival Corp. He said “some infrastructure for cruising already exists in the country,” although other issues “need to be taken into consideration if this market opens up.”

A handful of international companies already operate in Cuba. For instance, Spanish hotel chain Melia has 26 properties on the island. U.S. companies, such as Hilton Worldwide and Marriott International — the two largest chains by rooms — say they welcome any future opportunities to include Cuba in their rapidly growing global footprint.

“We will take our cues from the U.S. government but look forward to opening hotels in Cuba, as companies from others countries have done already,” Marriott CEO Arne Sorenson said in an emailed statement.

While most Americans are prohibited from traveling to Cuba and spending money there, close relatives of Cubans, academics and people on accredited cultural education programs can visit. And there is a tiny but robust business in transporting people to Cuba.

Most operators are tiny storefront travel agents in the Miami area with names like Alina’s Travel Co. and Gina’s Travel Services. Those agents then charter planes from carriers like American Airlines to transport the groups.

About 170,000 authorized travelers made the trip last year, according to the Commerce Department.

“Once people get a glimpse of Cuba, they always want to see more,” said Katharine Bonner, a senior executive at Connecticut-based tour operator Tauck, which runs tours there under a cultural exchange license. “Americans are very curious about a country that is 90 miles off our coast but has been off-limits for so long.”

It is that isolation, in part, that is so appealing. There are no McDonalds, no Starbucks. Bonner said that once travel opens, there will be a rush to see Cuba before its gets “Americanized.”

“It’s almost like a country that has been frozen in time,” she said. “There’s going to be a desire to see Cuba before it changes.”

The challenge for the industry will be to offer trips to Cuba for eager tourists without alienating anti-Castro Cuban-Americans who stay in hotels or take cruises elsewhere. Regardless, for now, senior Obama administration officials say travel to Cuba for tourist activities will remain prohibited.

U.S. airlines have been quietly dipping their toes in Cuba’s warm waters for years.

American Airlines dominates many of the routes to Latin America with its hub in Miami. It has run charters to Cuba for more than 15 years, according to spokeswoman Martha Pantin. It now operates 20 weekly flights from Miami to Havana, Holguin, Santa Clara and Cienfuegos, as well as from Tampa to Havana and Holguin.

JetBlue Airways started flying Cuba charters in September 2011. It’s a very small part of the airline’s business; just three weekly flights with 50 to 80 customers, either to Havana or Santa Clara.

JetBlue CEO David Barger said last year that the charters are a way of “just understanding what happens, if in fact there’s a normalization.”

Delta Air Lines, which operated more than 240 charter flights between October 2011 and December 2012, said it has no immediate plans to fly to Cuba. But spokesman Anthony Black noted that “having served there through our charter operations, the groundwork has been laid for us to possibly serve the market if an opportunity becomes available.”

Airlines are granted the right to fly international routes through bilateral agreements between U.S. and foreign governments. A similar agreement would need to be reached with Cuba first. There is one dating back to 1953 — it was last updated July 30, 1957 — that allows specific routes from Houston, New York, New Orleans, Washington, D.C., and the Florida cities of Miami, Tampa, St. Petersburg, Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach.

The one immediate change for licensed travelers: They will now be able to return to the United States with $400 in Cuban goods, including tobacco and alcohol. Limited amounts of Cuban cigars might be the new hot souvenir.